Toilet tissue dispenser



March 19 1968 J. A. SMITH 3,374,042

TOILET TISSUE DISPENSER 7 Filed Sept. 27, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 James A.Smith 30 I INVENTOK.

24 I 50 WWW H M2 3 Sheets-Sheet Z Mam}! 1 1968 J. A. SMITH TOILET TISSUEDISPENSER Filed Sept. 27, 1966 4 R m 7 7 0 m & mm M w MW, N 4 w U M M Am s W 5 0 I\ m w 0. 7/,/\. a J Y F B March 19, 1968 J, SMlTH TOILETTISSUE DISPENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 2'7, 1966 8 R 1 .I 0 l mNW 81 H A l H, I M I w a J h n 1/ W 2 J \vn\\ BY WWW ma United StatesPatent Office 3,374,042 Patented Mar. 19, 1968 3,374,042 TOILET TISSUEDISPENSER James A. Smith, 520 Hilda St., Morgan City, La. 70380 FiledSept. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 582,454 7 Claims. (Cl. 31239) This inventionrelates to a novel and useful toilet tissue dispenser and morespecifically to a dispenser adapted to house a plurality of rolls oftoilet tissue and to dispense, when needed, individual rolls of toilettissue from the housing and to journal each dispensed roll for ease inunrolling the tissue therefrom. The dispenser of the instant inventionmay assume many different shapes but is specifically illustrated anddescribed hereinafter as comprising an upstanding tubular housingadapted to receive therein a plurality of toilet tissue rolls stacked inside-by-side relation with the toilet tissue rolls disposed for freedownward guided movement within the tubular housing. In addition, thedispenser of the instant invention includes tissue roll retaining meansdisposed above the lowermost end of the housing and adapted to engageand support from beneath the lowermost roll of toilet'tissue in thehousing in a manner such that the roll retaining means may beintermittently actuated to release the lowermost roll and catch the rolldisposed immediately thereabove whereby the lowermost roll may bedispensed by gravity downwardly in the tubular housing.

The lower end of the housing includes a discharge point in which adispensed roll may be supported and including means by which thedispensed roll may be releasably supported for rotation about itslongitudinal axis.

The roll retaining means includes an actuator portion engageable fromthe exterior of the housing and which may be readily actuated to releasethe lowermost roll in the stack of tissue rolls disposed within thehousing whenever the supply of tissue on the roll journaled at thebottom of the housing has been depleted.

The main object of this invention is to provide a toilet tissue rolldispenser capable of storing a plurality of toilet tissue rolls andindividually dispensing a roll of toilet tissue therefrom for journaledsupport of the tissue roll dispensed until the supply of toilet tissuethereon is depleted and it is desired to replace the depleted roll withafreshroll of toilet tissue stored within the dispenser.

' Another object of this invention, in accordance with the precedingobject, is to provide a toilet tissue dispenser constructed in a mannerwhereby it may have a major portion thereof recessed within a wallstructure.

A still further object of this invention, in accordance with theimmediately preceding object, is to provide a toilet tissue dispenserthat may also be readily supported 'com'pletely outw'ardly of one outersurface of a wall structure.

A finalobject of this invention to be specifically enumeratedherein isto provide a toilet tissue dispenser which will conform to conventionalforms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as toprovide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting andrel-atively'trouble-free in operation. These together with otherobjectsand advantages which will-become subsequently apparent reside in thedetails of construction and operation as more fully hereinafterdescribed and claimed, reference being had .to the accompanying drawingsforming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like partsthroughout, and inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a-wall structure havingone form of the toilet tissue dispenser of the instant inventionrecessed therein;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional'view taken substantially uponthe plane indicated by the section line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view takensubstantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 44 of FIGURE1;

FIGURE 5 is a enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view takensubstantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 5-5 of FIGURE2;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of amodified form of tissue dispenser illustrating a somewhat different rollretaining and release assem' bly for the lowermost roll of the stack oftissue rolls disposed within the dispenser, and with the roll retainingmeans illustrated in position to drop the lowermost tissue roll andcatch the tissue roll disposed immediately thereabove;

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 6 but illustrating the rollretaining means in position cradling and thereby supporting thelowermost tissue r-oll from beneath;

FIGURE 8 is a horizontal sectional view of the modified form ofdispenser taken substantially upon a plane disposed immediately abovethe lowermost tissue roll in FIGURE 7; and

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the cradle means defining the rollretaining means of the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 6-8.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generallydesignates a wall structure having an opening 12 formed therein in whichthe toilet tissue dispenseriof the instant invention, generallydesignated by the reference numeral 14, is mounted. i

The dispenser 14 may be secured within the wall structure 10 aspositioned in the opening 12 in any convenient manner and the dispenser10 includes a housing referred to in general by the reference numeral16.

The housing 16 includes front and rear Walls 18 and 20 and opposite sidewalls 22 interconnected by means of top and bottom walls 24 and 26. Thehousing 16 may be construct-ed of any suitable material although anoncorrosive material such as plastic is preferable inasmuch as thehousing 16 may be subjected to high humidity conditions sometimespresent in a bathroom. i

The front wall 18 includes opposite side rearward ly projecting flangeportions 30 overlying the outer surfaces of the forward edge portions ofthe side walls 2 2 and the upper end portion of the front wall 18 has aninlet open ing 32 formed therein with which a hinged closure cover 34 isoperatively associated. Still further, the lower end'of the front wall18 has a discharge opening 36 formed therein and the lower ends of theside walls 22 include forwardly projecting extensions or arms 38projecting through the opening 36 and forwardly of the front wall 18.

The arms '38 are provided with aligned tapered bores 40 defining seatswhich open away from each other and generally spherical members 42 areseated in the seats 40. Each of the arms 38 has an annular mounting boss44 disposed on its outer surface in concentric relation with thecorresponding seat 40 and a cap member 46 is secured in each mountingboss 44 and encloses a corresponding compression spring 48 acting uponthe corresponding spherical member 42 so as to yiel-dingly urge .thelatter into seated engagement with the associated seat 40. It will ofcourse be noted that the spherical members 42 project through the arms38.

A roll of toilet tissue generally referred to by the reference numeral.50 includes a tubular core 52 and a 3 plurality of convolutions oftissue 54. The roll 50 is journ aled between the arms 38 by means of thespherical members 42. The adjacent portions of the spherical members 42are snugly but loosely received within and there by rotatably journalthe opposite ends of the tubular core 52.

As may be seen from FIGURE 2 of the drawings the housing 16 is of a sizeto support, in addition to the roll 50, further rolls 56, 58, 60 and 62with the lowermost roll 56 being supported from beneath by means of aroller type actuator 64.

The roll actuator 64 includes a rigid sleeve-like core 66 journ-aled ona support shaft 68 and a resilient outer sleeve 70 is disposed over thecore sleeve 66. The front wall 18 of the housing 16 has a small opening72 formed therein and the support s'haft, disposed inwardly of the frontwall 18, has its opposite ends slidably and rotatably received in slots74 provided therefor in the forward marginal edge portions of the sidewalls 22. The forward peripheral portion of the roller actuator 64projects outwardly through the opening 72 for ready engagement by apers'ons fingers and the inner peripheral portion of the roller actuator64 underlies the forward portion of the lower peripheral portion of thelowermost roll 56 and thereby supports the roll 56 from beneath againstdownward movement through the housing 16. Of course, inasmuch as theroller actuator 64 supports the lowermost roll 56, the rolls 58, 60 and62 are also supported against downward movement.

The side walls 22 each include anchor pins 76 and expansion springs 78extend between the terminal ends of the .support shaft 68 and the anchorpin-s 76 and thereby yield'ingly urge the support shaft 68 inwardlytoward seated engagement in the inner ends of the slots 74.

When all of the toilet tissue on the core 52 is depleted the latter maybe removed merely by pulling the core 52 outwardly of the lower end ofthe housing 16 from between the forward ends of the arms 38. Then, therolloer actuator 64 may be manipulated by the user so as to be rotatedin a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 2 of the drawingswhereupon the frictional engagement between the outer sleeve 70 and theroll 56 will cause the latter to be slightly deformed and slowly rolleddownwardly along the inner surface of the rear wall 20 of the housing 16until the roll 56 passes below the roller actuator 64 at which point theroll 56 will be free to fall by gravity downwardly to the outlet opening36 for subsequent mounting between the spherical members 42 in place ofthe roll 50. Accordingly, it may readily be seen that the retainingmeans comprising the roller actuator 64 defines an extremely simple andeffective retaining and release means for the rolls of toilet tissuedisposed within the housing 16. Although the shaft 68 has been mountedso that it may be shifted slightly to compensate for varying sizes oftoilet tissue rolls, inasmuch as toilet tissue rolls are relativelycompressible, the shaft 68 can be jonrnaled for rotation about a fixedaxis. In any event, only the one moving part, the roller actuator 64, isnecessary in the dispenser 14, the spring mounted spherical members 42being replaceable by means of spring arm supported members of similarconfiguration.

The cap members 46 may be retained within the mounting bosses 44 bymeans of suitable setscrews 80. Further, the closure cover or door 34may include suitable deten-t latch means (not shown) and may open eitherinwardly or outwardly as desired. Still further, the lower end of thehousing 16 may be provided with a partial cylindrical baffle 82 toforwardly direct a roll of toilet tissue falling downwardly through thehousing as dispensed roll of tissue reaches the lower end of thehousing. With attention now directed more specifically to FIG- URES 6-9of the drawings there may be seen a modified form of dispenser generallyreferred to by the reference numeral 114 and which is substantially thesame in construction as the dispenser 14 except for the roll retainingand dispensing mechanism thereof.

The roll retaining and dispensing mechanism of the embodimentillustrated in FIGURES 6-9 is generally referred to by the referencenumeral 115 and includes an actuating roller 164 corresponding to theroller 64 and mounted on a shaft 168 corresponding to the shaft 68 whoseopposite ends are journaled in mounting lugs 169 carried by the frontwall 118 of the dispenser 114. The front wall 118 includes a smallopening 172 corresponding to the opening 72 and through which the innerperipheral portion of the roller actuator 164 projects. One end of theroller actuator .164 has a toothed wheel 165 formed integrally therewith.and the roll retaining and dispensing mechanism further includes acradle assembly generally referred to by the reference numeral 167.

The cradle assembly 167 includes a pair of opposite end walls 169interconnected by means of a semi-cylindrical bottom wall portion 171and the side walls 169 include stub axle portions 173 journaled insuitable apertures 175 formed in the side walls 122 of the dispenser114. The semi cylindn'cal bottom wall 171 includes a plurality ofcircumferentially extending rack gear-type teeth 177 with which theteeth on the wheel 165 are meshed and the side or end walls 169 furtherinclude stop pins 179 which are engageable with a horizontal rib 181extending inwardly from and projecting across the inner surface of thefront wall 118 when the cradle assembly 167 is in the position thereofillustrated in FIGURE 7 of the drawings.

The dispenser 114 normally has the roll retaining and dispensingmechanism 115 positioned as illustrated in FIGURE 7 of the drawingswherein the lowermost roll 156 is cradled in the cradle assembly 167.When it is desired to dispense the lowermost roll 156, the rolleractuator 164 may be rotated in a clockwise direction from the positionthereof illustrated in FIGURE 7 of the drawings so as to swing thecradle assembly 167 from the position thereof illustrated in FIGURE 7 ofthe drawings to the position thereof illustrated in FIGURE 6 of thedrawings with the leading edge of the bottom wall 171 passing betweenthe upper peripheral portion of the lowermost roll 156 and the lowerperipheral portion of the roll 158 disposed immediately thereabove. Whenthe cradle assembly 167 has been shifted to the position illustrated inFIGURE 6, the roll 156 will be free to fall downwardly through thedispenser 114 for subsequent journaled support in the manner in whichthe roll 50 is supported in FIGURES 14. Of course, the leading edge ofthe bottom wall 171 retains the roll 158 in an elevated position whenthe cradle assembly 167 is positioned as illustrated in FIGURE 6.However, the cradle assembly 167 is weighted eccentrically relative toits axis of rotation in a manner such that it will automatically returnto the position thereof illustrated in FIGURE 7 of the drawings from theposition illustrated in FIGURE 6 of the drawings as soon as the rolleractuator 164 is released. Of course, return of the cradle assembly 167to the position thereof illustrated in FIGURE 7 of the drawings willthen enable the cradle assembly 167 to cradle the roll 158 in the samemanner in which the roll 156 is cradled in FIGURE 7 of 'the drawings,the roll 158 then becoming the lowermost roll in a stack of rollssupported within the dispenser 114. Of course, although the dispenserhas been illustrated and described as being adapted to handle rolls oftoilet tissue, it is to be understood that all features of the dispenserare also readily adaptable to handle rolls of paper towels and otherrolled material such as waxed paper, aluminum foil and rolled plasticsheet material, etc.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

I claim:

1. A toilet tissue dispenser comprising elongated upstanding guide meansadapted to support a plurality of toilet tissue rolls stacked inside-by-side relation therefrom for free downward guided movementtherealong, said guide means including roll retaining means spaced abovethe lower end thereof and adapted to releasably support the lowermostroll in said stack against downward movement past said retaining means,said guide means including roll journaling means disposed below saidretaining means adapted to removably rotatably journal a roll of tissueafter it has passed down said guide means past said roll retainingmeans, said roll retaining means including an actuator journaled fromsaid guide means and operative, in response to its rotation, to causesaid lowermost roll to move downwardly along said guide means past saidretaining means for subsequent journaling from said roll journalingmeans, said roll retaining means including upwardly opening cradle meansjournaled from said guide means for oscillation between an uprightupwardly opening position adapted to cradle said lowermost roll frombeneath and an inverted downwardly opening position allowing downwardmovement of said lowermost roll therefrom and defining an abutment forthe next to the lowermost roll in said stack.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said actuator includes a rollerjournaled from said guide means, readily finger engageable, andfrictionally drivingly connected to said cradle means for simultaneousrotation of the latter and said roller actuator.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said cradle means is weighted forreturn to said upright position from said inverted position by gravity.

4. A toilet tissue dispenser comprising elongated upstanding guide meansadapted to support a plurality of toilet tissue rolls stacked insideby-side relation there from for free downward guided movementtherealong, said guide means including roll retaining means spaced abovethe lower end thereof and adapted to releasably support the lowermostroll in said stack against downward movement past said retaining means,said guide means including roll journaling means disposed below saidretaining means adapted to removably rotatably journal a roll of tissueafter it has passed down said guide means past said roll retainingmeans, said roll retaining means including upwardly opening cradle meansjournaled from said guide means for oscillation between an uprightupwardly opening position adapted to cradle said lowermost roll frombeneath and an inverted downwardly opening position allowing downwardmovement of said lowermost roll therefrom and defining an abutment forthe next to the lowermost roll in said stack.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said cradle means is weighted forreturn to said upright position from said inverted position by gravity.

6. A toilet tissue dispenser comprising elongated upstanding guide meansadapted to support a plurality of toilet tissue rolls stacked inside-by-side relation therefrom for free downward guided movementtherealong, said guide means including roll retaining means spaced abovethe lower end thereof and adapted to r'eleasably support the lowermostroll in said stack against downward move ment past said retaining means,said guide means including roll journaling means disposed below saidretaining means adapted to removably rotatably journal a roll of tissueafter it has passed down said guide means past said roll retainingmeans, said roll retaining means including upwardly opening cradle meansjournaled from said guide means for oscillation between an uprightupwardly opening position adapted to cradle said lowermost roll frombeneath and an inverted downwardly opening position allowing downwardmovement of said lowermost roll therefrom and defining an abutment forthe next to the lowermost roll in said stack, said roll journaling meansincluding a pair of opposing mounting portions carried by the lower endof said guide means, each of said mounting portions including a tube endjournaling member projecting toward the other mounting portion, saidtube end journaling members being supported from said guide means forlimited movement toward and away from each other and adapted to be atleast partially received in and to journal the opposite ends of a toilettissue roll tube, said tube end journaling members being yieldinglyurged toward reduced spatial relationship.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said mounting portions comprise apair of generally parallel arm portions adapted to receive the roll oftoilet tissue to be journaled therebetween, said arm portions includingpanel-like free end portions having aligned apertures formedtherethrough, said tube end journaling members including generallysemi-spherical portions opposing each other, the remote ends of saidapertures defining seats in which said generally semi-spherical portionsare seated, the latter projecting through said apertures.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,958,080 5/1934 Bottker et al.242-55.53 XR 2,407,971 9/1946 Blaok 312-39 2,555,885 6/1951 Hope242-55.53 2,592,346 4/1952 Scogin 312-39 2,603,427 7/1952 Holmes 312-392,819,852 1/1958 Sarro 24255.53 2,871,078 1/1959 Carleo 31239 3,246,9374/1966 Galbraith 242--55.53 XR BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

JAMES L. KOHNEN, Assistant Examiners.

1. A TOILET TISSUE DISPENSER COMPRISING ELONGATED UPSTANDING GUIDE MEANSADAPTED TO SUPPORT A PLURALITY OF TOILET TISSUE ROLLS STACKED INSIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION THEREFROM FOR FREE DOWNWARD GUIDED MOVEMENTTHEREALONG, SAID GUIDE MEANS INCLUDING ROLL RETAINING MEANS SPACED ABOVETHE LOWER END THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO RELEASABLY SUPPORT THE LOWERMOSTROLL IN SAID STACK AGAINST DOWNWARD MOVEMENT PAST SAID RETAINING MEANS,SAID GUIDE MEANS INCLUDING ROLL JOURNALING MEANS DISPOSED BELOW SAIDRETAINING MEANS ADAPTED TO REMOVABLY ROTATABLY JOURNAL A ROLL OF TISSUEAFTER IT HAS PASSED DOWN SAID GUIDE MEANS PAST SAID ROLL RETAININGMEANS, SAID ROLL RETAINING MEANS INCLUDING AN ACTUATOR JOURNALED FROMSAID GUIDE MEANS AND OPERA-